Nothing Endures But Change
by marzoog
Summary: *EDITED* All Mari Irvine wanted was for things to stay the same…. but you can’t do that with Voldemort on your heels… A Marauder’s era fic (Based off of my friends and myself)
1. Prologue

A/N This is my fic. Marvel at the greatness, or the lack thereof. I'm completely revising this, so please enjoy! If you are reading this know that I will love you if you review! This does take place in the time of the Marauders, FYI. 

Disclaimer: What kind of morons do I have to take you for? This one is DARN obvious, darn obvious. I don't own the setting and any of the characters I have used from Harry Potter. The OCs are mine, ALL mine. HAHAHA!!!

Nothing Endures But Change 

By marzoog

Prologue

Marissa Irvine, a little girl of eleven, stood in front of the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten at King's Cross Station. She carried a small trunk, smaller than most, and there were no squawking owls or disappearing toads in her hands; a book was there instead. She was bareheaded. Her hair, a million shades of brown, was done in a neat ponytail at the bottom of her head. It hung straight down, like a stick put on her back. Her clothes were a simple ice-blue blouse, and a pair of jeans. The jeans were ill fitting, for the little girl was somewhat pudgy. She wore a pensive look on her face. Like she was facing something she'd rather not, or not getting to face something she did. 

Marissa no longer felt like getting ridiculed, or laughed at, by people whom she asked the location of her destination: Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Her face must have plainly given her apprehension away as a kind, but young, voice asked her 

"Are you looking for the Hogwarts Express?"

"Yes!" Marissa exclaimed, her face brightening up, "How did you know?"

"I could see the look you were giving the barrier, you looked like you wanted to punch it. My mom and dad say all you have to do is walk through it."

Marissa's face brightened more at hearing these words as she turned around to face her newfound helper. She was clearly her own age, but her face was longer and thinner. The girl's brown hair fell in light waves, and dark lashes surrounded her brown eyes. She was slightly taller, Marissa noticed, as she walked towards her. 

"Thanks so much. My name's Marissa Irvine. I'm going into my First Year, so I don't know anything about Hogwarts."

"I'm Tabitha Spain, some of my friends call me Tabby. I'm in First Year too. My dad went to Hogwarts, and so did most of my friend's parents, so I know some things about it."

Marissa could see that no parents were with the girl, so they pulled their trunks; Tabitha's was bigger than hers so she needed a trolley, to the barrier. Marissa gulped.

"Well this is it."

"Yep," admonished Tabitha, "it is. Don't worry, it won't kill you."

Marissa sprung through the barrier and found herself running into a boy who seemed as if he shampooed himself with grease.

'Hey, watch the robes. They're new." He said lowly, but spitefully.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been in the way." Marissa muttered under her breath as he strode away.

"What was that?" came Tabitha's voice from behind her

"I don't know. Some git knocked into me. Idiot." Marissa scoffed at the boy, even though he had gone.

"Well we better find a compartment I guess. I don't know whether Ellie has already come and saved one for us yet. You can come with me if you like."

"Who's Ellie? And of course I'm coming with you, I have nowhere else to go." That seem to settle that Marissa and Tabitha were going to be friends, and Marissa knew it. 

"Ellie is one of the other girls from my Primary school who is going to Hogwarts. Let's see, who else said they were going? Oh, Alex said she was, and I think Janice is, this girl I just meet who moved by me called Lauren and I'm pretty sure other Ellie said she was going to as well."

"Other Ellie?"

"Well there's Ellie Miller, and Ellie Nutgall."

"I see…"

"Yes." Tabitha's face light up in a weird, sort of insane smile, that made Marissa's eyebrows lift.

"Come on…"Tabitha gestured to Marissa, "Let's go before it pulls out."

"UGH!" Marissa screeched as she bumped into someone else. A girl her own age was standing there. With shoulder length dark brown hair, and huge luminescent brown eyes, she seemed very nice. Her legs and body were a stick, even skinner than Tabitha, but her face showed the last signs of childlike pudginess. 

"Hey, " said Tabitha, "I know you!"

"Yeah!" The girl replied eagerly, "You're the girl who lives a block down from me!"

"I met you once, didn't I? I think we were both down at the News Agent and I was going to say hi, but you ran off."

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I felt guilty about that afterwards, but I had to run down and get my brother's medication, so I had to be quick."

"That's ok. Come on with us, you can meet my friends who are going here. I'm Tabitha by the way. This is Marissa."

"Mari to my friends," said Mari not knowing why but liking the nickname immediately, "which you are one of now." She smiled. The girl smiled. 

"I'm Lauren Johnson." She said. 

"Nice to meet ya!" Was Mari's odd impression of those old American Muggle Movies as she stuck out her hand and shook Lauren's.

Marissa, Lauren and Tabitha looked through just about every compartment, and had almost gotten killed by the blowing up of a cake in a compartment with four boys, all mischievous looks on their faces (A/N three guesses who!), before they found the compartment where Tabitha's friends were. 

Ellie was taller then Tabitha by a few inches, Her light blue eyes were critical of everything, but still nice at the same time. She was much more obese than Mari, and was very pudgy. Her chestnut hair went down almost to her shoulders, and the bangs above her eyebrows framed her glasses. The dominance of her presence seemed to be of sure conviction and disregard for what other people thought of her.

Alex was in every way opposite of Ellie. She was slightly shorter than Mari, making her the shortest of them all, and her thin features and light brown hair that went down past her shoulders made her look, as Barry James described it in the future, like a turtle. She was pretty though, more in a cute sort of way. The eyes under her glasses were as light blue as Ellie's, but they lacked the critical look. She seemed like a person who needed friends to support her, but helped support them at the same time,

Mari greeted them a little uncertainly. Tabitha seemed at perfect ease, but Mari and Lauren weren't. This feeling ended immediately, at least for Mari, when Alex smiled and asked them where they were from. Mari's rare, and slow occurring, smile popped out, making her otherwise plain and too plump futures look pretty. Lauren's eyes, however, suggested that she was not. It took a while before the uneasy look died away.

It wasn't until several minutes of chatting with these two, Ellie seemed to have a lot to tell them about her summer, that Tabitha asked them

"Hey, where's the TQ?"

Alex laughed at Mari and Lauren's puzzled looks.

"Ellie Nutgall." She explained. 

"Oh!" Mari now understood, wondering at the absurd nickname. Lauren raised her eyebrows in curiosity. 

"She's another one of our friends who went to our Primary school." Alex explained.

"Yeah, her real name is Ellie, so we call her TQ to distinguish between her and Me." was Ellie's cryptic explanation.

"Why TQ?" Queried Lauren

"Tyrannical Queen. She pushed these boys out of our seats on the bus that she was saving for us. Gave Barry quite a fright too!" Alex explained further on, laughing at the memory

"I see…"Said Lauren, her face thoughtful.

"So what house do you guys want to be in?" Tabitha started up the inquiry.

"Ravenclaw." Promptly answered Ellie, "All my family has been in there for ages."

"I don't know…I think I'd like any house except Slytherin, but I'd like to be with you guys." Was Alex's answer.

"I don't know much about the houses," confessed Mari, "but I don't like the sound of Slytherin."

"My mom was in Hufflepuff, but I don't know if I'd like it there." Said Lauren

"I think I'd like Ravenclaw," Tabitha gave her answer, "My dad was in there, and he was Head Boy." At that Tabitha went on to tell how her father had been both Head Boy and a Quidditch captain. She wasn't bragging, she was making fun of her dad. (That is actually based off of one of friends dad and she DID make fun of him, it was very funny. This fic is really a parody of my life!)

It was highly enjoyable to hear about, and then a stout witch with gray hair came along, asking if they wanted any sweets. Mari decided to try a chocolate frog and a Pumpkin Pasty. The witch told her if she wanted to more just to go find her in the other compartments.

Soon TQ joined them. She was tall for being as skinny as she was. Her very dark brown, long hair was pulled back in a swinging ponytail. Her pale face had some freckles. Her bright green eyes were illuminated, it seemed, in the center by emeralds. She also proved to be very well read in Muggle novels. Mari, Tabitha, and TQ had a wonderful discourse on the Little Women series. (A favorite of Mari's, but not so well liked by Tabitha or TQ)

Mari had loved the pasty so much she deiced to go and find some more. She bade a short goodbye to her newfound best friends and walked out of the compartment, the last topic being whether You-Know-Who (and Mari found she DIDN'T know who) was going to do any damage to the Wizarding world. Mari stalked down the corridor to the next compartment, staring out of the windows she could see, when, for the third time that day, she bumped into someone. 

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" an extremely annoyed Scottish voice sounded. Mari looked up to see a very cute boy who could have been around her age, or slightly older. He had a mocking look in his brown eyes, and he seemed to have many skins of personality to molt off. For the rest he was about as "dreamy" (Mari detested that expression, but had to use it anyway for lack of something better) as they come. 

"Sorry, but maybe you shouldn't have been in _my_ way." Mari was in no way going to give in to this rude, but dreamy, boy. 

"Your way! Maybe you should have looked where you were going!"

"Well, maybe if you would just get out of my way now, because I've bumped into three people today already and I'm starting to get mad."

"Three people! Three people! Maybe that should tell you something about yourself: you need to look where you are going!" said the boy maliciously, to get a rise out of Mari. The rest of the compartment was staring. 

"Well, at least I have the decency to apologize!" Mari shot back, almost screaming. This boy was so infuriating! 

"Oh, but not to admit you were wrong?" 

"Yes…but you haven't even apologized! Now just move of my way!" Mari didn't yell it, but there was malice in her voice that made it worse than if she had screamed her lungs out.

"Fine", said the boy through gritted teeth, mad he hadn't managed to get as much of a rise as he wanted out of her, "Go ahead."

"Thank you." Mari hung her head after the embarrassing scene, she didn't meet the eye of the people in the compartment as she walked on to find the sweet cart. 

Mari went ahead and bought her pasty, but only half-enjoyed it. The bitterness of that fight had ruined her pasty; She looked out the window as the others chatted on for a few minutes, when more people burst into the compartment. 

"Lookie who I have here, dears, new recruits. " Said a tall girl with long, curly black hair and slightly brown skin. Her brown eyes were big and kind. 

At her side her two other girls. One was taller than her and had straight black hair just past her shoulders, and the other was slightly shorter with almost black hair, done in a sloppy half pony, and brown eyes that were surrounded by a speckling of freckles. 

"Ah, well done Janice." Ellie addressed the first girl. 

"Hi, I'm Alex, this dunce is Ellie, the spaced out one is Tabitha, that one over there is Lauren, the one who has a tail of hair is Ellie, but we call her TQ and that one moping in the corner looking out of the window is Mari." 

"Hey!" Mari registered her protest, "I'm NOT moping." 

"Sure you aren't…" Ellie's sarcasm was evident, it almost got on Mari's nerves. 

"I'm Janice." Said the first girl shaking Mari's hand, then Lauren's

"I'm Chat" The tall girl waved 

"I'm Emily Cosby." The freckled girl made no gesture. She merely stared with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't look haughty, only lost. She just didn't seem happy.

Mari continued to wonder about Emily as she talked to Janice and Ellie. They were a very funny duo, and very entertaining. Mari could hardly get in a word edgewise, and this annoyed her, but she was too tired to protest. Mari laughed with them and gave up getting her word in edgewise. Then Alex looked at her watch and pronounced

"We only have about a half and hour left, so I think that we should get in our robes."

Sure enough the driver of the train gave a Thirty-minute warning a few seconds later and the cabin dissolved in laughter. 

As they approached Hogwarts, Mari started feeling a little anxious. What if she wasn't in the same house as all of her new friends? What if she had to be a loner like she had been and these were her last minutes of possible friendship? What if she hated this school? What if it was all a joke and everyone would laugh at her. She crunched her hands under the seat, hoping to distract herself from such thoughts. 

Soon the train was screeching to a halt. Mari stuck her head out for a view of her new home. Its tall towers and gothic building style seemed to suggest that it was a fairytale castle, and Mari held her breath. 

"First time, ey? Said a cynical voice going out into the mass of people

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Mari retorted rather primly

"First Years! First Years over here!" A loud rumbling voice said. 

Mari climbed into a boat with Lauren, Tabitha and Emily. She saw that in one of the boats a little boy was leaning over and reaching out, in consequence he fell into the lake. He appeared to be chasing the toad Mari could see jumping out over the lake. 

"Steady there Frank." Said the booming voice belonging to a large gruff man, who was the biggest Mari had ever seen. 

Mari laughed although feeling sorry for "Frank". She hid her face as she saw the boy whom she had collided with on the train. So he was a First Year… She could also see those four boys with the exploding cake huddling together, probably planning a prank no doubt. 

Mari's attention was brought to back to her own boat when Lauren said

"Gee, Mari, you look spaced out. Are you worried or something? Alex said her mom told her those rumors about having to face a troll are lies."

"Whoever said that?"

"This guy I met at the Platform. He said that he always pitied First Years because of it. He said that half of them who go get killed."

"That's nonsense, and you know it. Probably the guy was trying to scare you. So…if not a troll than what do we have to face?"

"A hat." Answered Tabitha, for some reason solemn. 

"A hat? Why should we worry about a hat?"

"Because, my dad says, it can see into your head. It can read your thoughts." Tabitha shuddered; she obviously didn't like the idea.

"Why would you mind that?"

"Well…I wouldn't want anyone to know what I think. Thoughts are supposed to be private, and I suppose I have some I wouldn't want any thing, including a dumb little hat, to know." 

"That makes sense." Mari acknowledged. 'I suppose I wouldn't it know some of my thoughts either, but its not like it will tell." 

"True, that's the good thing about it being a hat, and not a person."

"So…shall we move on to a less philosophical subject, like you telling us what each house is like. Please?"

"Yeah…my sister goes here, but she hasn't said much about the houses." Emily piped in. Mari noticed she was getting less and less quiet. Mari took this as a good sign.

"Well…Gryffindors are the brave ones, Ravenclaws are smart, Hufflepuffs are the nice, but stupid ones, and Slytherin are the evil ones." Tabitha made a fake cross with her hands. 

"So I take it we don't want to be in Slytherin?" asked Emily sarcastically

"Nope…I take it not." Mari wisecracked. 

As Mari stood in the Entrance Hall, she noticed the Pasty boy again. 

"Quick, hide me. I knocked into that boy over there and we had a big row." 

Janice and Chat complied and Mari, being much shorter than they, was perfectly hidden from the "Pasty" boy.

"SO, Mari, " Chirped up Ellie, "I want to know all the gory details. Tell all." She urged 

"We're about to get sorted and all you can think about is my having a row with an idiot on the train!"

"A cute idiot" TQ chimed in after having a good look at him.

"So what, let's get sorted then you can tease me about having a row with that idiot."

'Fine, that must have been what you were moping about!" said Ellie, and Mari knew she wouldn't let it go until she had Mari confessing her love to "that idiot". Not a pleasant thought at all.

"I WAS NOT MOPING!" Mari was getting mad, and Ellie enjoyed making her mad. It seemed everyone did. 

But a simmering silence in the hall brought conversation to a close, as well as teasing. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts" said a voice from the stairs. A stately woman in her late thirties was standing there, "I am Professor Mc Gonagall. I am the Deputy Headmistress of this school, as well as Head of Gryffindor House. The houses in this school are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You will be sorted into your house right now with the Sorting Ceremony. The Sorting Ceremony is an age-old ritual and I will not have you creating a disturbance. Is that clear?" Her gaze lingered on the group of boys with the exploding cake, and then she continued. "Once we are all in the Great Hall I will explain the details of the ceremony." At this she herded the new First Years along into the Great Hall. 

Mari had never seen anything like the Great Hall. Its ceiling seemed transparent, and four, extremely long, tables lined the room.

Mari shuddered. She seemed to be standing still. All she could see was the face of a red haired girl looking longingly at a boy with messy dark brown hair. This image faded out and she could see girl fainting on the table. This girl had long nut-brown hair, and glasses. She looked pale. She too faded out of Mari's sight. Then Dumbledore, his face pale and drawn, was quietly telling his students something that unnerved him. Lastly she saw a tall, blond, girl collapsed on the floor, a little trail of blood came from her head….

Mari snapped out of it. Surely that was just daydream? But now…and it had seemed so real…Mari's head was shaken out of her "day dream" by a shrill voice, which Mari realized with a jolt belonged to Professor Mc Gonagall. 

"Please make a single filed line" All the overly nervous First Years complied, "And when I call your name sit on the stool and place the hat on your head." Mc Gonagall placed an old ratty hat on the stool, and immediately it began to recite a poem.

A long time ago 

_In a place no so far away_

_The Greatest wizards of the age_

_Created a place for magic to stay _

_And be taught, rather than caged_

_In a good old fashion way_

_Four houses,_

_Named from them,_

_For Hufflepuff from the valley_

_For Slytherin from fen_

_For Gryffindor from the north moor_

_And Ravenclaw from glen._

_Now each must know where they belong_

_And so I sing this little song_

_I know where you should be_

_So just put it on and try me._

_If you prize brains above the rest_

_Then you will give me not much test_

_For in Ravenclaw you shall be_

_But if you like to see bravery _

_Than give Gryffindor a try_

_If loyalty is a welcome tie_

_Then Hufflepuff it shall be_

_If cunning you have and power you like to take_

_Then you belong in the house of the snake._

_Please don't be afraid_

_For I shall hurt you not_

_I will find your cage_

_So you won't be caught._

_Now is the end of this little song,_

_All you have to do is try me on!_

Mari, as well as most of the First Years, gawked at the hat. A hat had actually sung! How weird was that! This Wizarding world was certainly different than the one she had left behind. Maybe that was a good thing, thought Mari. 

"Abier, Tanya," was the first name Mc Gonagall's shrill voice shouted out. The hat sat a minute on top of Tanya's head and then shouted "Hufflepuff!" 

"Black, Sirius" was one of the four boys with the exploding cake, and, despite his name, no one had ever looked less serious about the sorting. It took one second, that in which Sirius put the hat on his head, for it to pronounce him a "Gryffindor!" 

"Brandon, John", a tall, skinny boy with a round, cheery face, went up before the hat and within thirty seconds was pronounced a "Gryffindor!"

With "Butcher, Jenny", a small, stick like girl with gold hair, it only took five seconds for the hat to hand her over to "Hufflepuff!"

Several kids were assigned their houses before it was Janice's turn. Her face turned slightly grim, but she walked up determinedly and sat down. The hat took about twenty seconds to yell out "Ravenclaw!" and Janice sat down, looking relieved.

Then, after one more First Year, it was Emily's turn. Her face was set, and Mari gave her a small pat on the back and a smile.

The hat took longer than it had on anyone else with Emily. Her face looked tense, like a struggle for life or death; finally she smiled as the hat yelled "Ravenclaw!" into the Great Hall. 

The Cs finished up and then on to the Ds. Mari was counting the letters to her own. "Dereks, Phillip" was made a Hufflepuff, and "Doven, Jim," took his place in Hufflepuff. Finally "Dropper, Jason" was made a Ravenclaw. 

The Es whizzed by and Chat was next. The hat pondered on her for a second, seemingly to make a hard decision, and then decided, with a great shout, that she was to be a "Ravenclaw!" 

After the other Fs were sorted "Gewstone, Andrew" was made a Ravenclaw, and his glee at it was obvious. 

"Glass, Kate" became a Hufflepuff and didn't look too happy about it. She slowly sat down with Tanya. 

Mari almost turned sick as the other Gs and Hs speed by and the Is were underway. 

"Irvine, Marissa", at the sound of her own name Mari held her head high. She walked proudly and stared everyone from Pasty boy to the Head boy in the eye. She would not be afraid of a hat. Only Mari knew it wasn't the hat that mattered, but the future coming from what the hat decided. 

"_Well….interesting….I think you are the most interesting person I've ever had to decide for Mari Irvine. You seem to lack nothing for the qualities in any of the houses… you have courage, loyalty, brains and cunning…****_

**_"Talk about boosting my ego"_** thought Mari, **"Freud would be proud." **

"Ah, but I was not kidding Ms. Irvine. I think you are so very interesting to place because so much will depend on where you are to your future. I can see four paths. All look mud-trodden and long and hard, but there is one that will lead you to happiness, two to sorrow, and one to greatness. Which one would you choose Ms. Irvine?"

**"HAPPINESS! I would choose happiness…."** Mari thought violently, not noticing her vice like grip on the rim of the hat.

"Well Mari Irvine, you have chosen wisely, but I'm warning mud is down this path more than others, it will take longer to get through the storm. But in the end there is much more sunshine. You have made your choice Mari Irvine, but will you stick to it…this is your last chance….no backing out now….

**_"I WON'T!!!" _**Mari shouted in her mind, unaware she was almost shouting it out loud, and the result was a piercing grunt that sounded like a deaf person's.

_"Well then Mari Irvine, I bid you goodbye and good luck. I now know you ought to end up in…._RAVENCLAW!" The last word was shouted out to the hall, and Mari took her seat next to Chat. 

"My God girl," Janice said, "You sounded like a mad woman!" 

"Did I really?"

"Oh, I'm sure they would love to have sent you to a mental asylum dearie." Chat joked. 

"Oh, really now…" Mari laughed and the next person to be sorted cut off further conversation. 

"Johnson, Lauren." 

It was Lauren's turn and you could see her shaking from where Mari was. Mari smiled up at her, hoping to install some confidence, but Lauren put the hat on with a worried frown. 

After only a little deliberation the hat relieved Mari by allowing Lauren to go sit with her. Mari was very pleased to have her sit down next to herself. 

"Katton, Jack" became a triumphant Hufflepuff as he sat down next to Barry.

Alex looked like she was sick in the stomach as she walked over to the hat. It pondered over her for a very long time. Finally it gave the yell of "Ravenclaw!" Alex looked very pleased with herself and went and sat down at the Ravenclaw table with every one else. 

A new Slytherin, "Macnair, John" followed and then "Mc Greg, Peter" was called out. 

Mari stared in shock. There was Pasty boy. And darn it, he had become a Ravenclaw. Mari hated the thought of actually having a lot of classes with him, or having to see him in the common room. No….her mind pleaded. But there was nothing she could do. Peter Mc Greg was now a Ravenclaw, and his face looked in shocked dislike to Mari's when he passed her and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. 

Mari stared in shock for a while and at last, it was Ellie's turn. She sat down eagerly, no trace of fear on her face. 

"Ravenclaw!" was the immediate, if not bored, call of the hat. 

Several more people and TQ was up. Her face looked pensive, but the sunshine of relief was apparent on her face as she took her seat next to Lauren. 'Nyehearter, Laura" became a Hufflepuff, several more people and then "Pettigrew, Peter" became a Gryffindor, followed by "Potter, James", as they sat down next to Sirius and "Lupin, Remus". 

"Roberts, Anne" went to the hat, meeting it with a slightly nervous frown. Mari could not have told you why she knew instantly that that girl was not any ordinary one for anything. But she still thought it as Mari welcomed her to the chair beside her. Anne's gray eyes still looked slightly nervous behind her black lashes and she was pulling on her short blond hair nervously. 

Anne looked she would have liked to start up a conversation ,but McGonagall's voice proved too loud to talk over. 

Finally after "Rent, Alex", Tabitha came up to the chair. She met it dubiously, not pleased at the prospect of a hat seeing her thoughts. She came and sat down next to Mari after the hat's two second deliberation. 

After stuffing herself with chicken, vegetables, Pumpkin juice, pie, and many more things Mari was excited to hear a Prefect call out. 

"First year Ravenclaws, this way!"

Mari blindly followed her friends, who were following the Prefect. They stopped in front of a Portrait of an old lady with a bird on her arm. Mari hence referred to her as "the Bird Lady." 

"The password for now is Virgo." And with that the Prefect opened the Portrait and lead them into a royal blue room, the fire being the only crimson streak in it, and addressed the First Years again.

"The girl's dormitories are on the right, boy's on the left." He pointed to the two stone staircases. 

Mari trudged up the girl's staircase first. 

"Come on." She beckoned, wanting to get as far away from Peter Mc Greg as possible.

When she arrived at a door marked First Years, she opened it. There were five, four-poster, beds. Each had a blue canopy and blue sheets. On each one of the beds there was a name, written on a bit of parchment. 

The two beds closest to the door were designated to Tabitha and TQ. Anne's was by the bathroom, next to TQ, and Lauren's across from hers, on the same side as Tabitha. Mari's was in between Tabitha and Lauren, right next to a window. For this she was grateful, she could see out onto the sunset. It was beautiful. 

Elle, Emily, Chat, Janice and Alex were puzzled. Why weren't there any more beds? With interrogation of the hall, it proved the results of another door marked First Years. One all the blue beds there were the names of the other girls. Their room had a window facing the other direction. It would look out onto the sunrise.

Mari decided she would call this room Sunrise, and her own Sunset, just to clear up confusion. The other girls agreed to her nickname. Everyone was too tired to talk much more, and, after only an hour or so of dialogue, they all got into their pajamas and crawled into their beds. 

As Mari could hear Anne's snoring (Sorry Rufus, I know you don't really snore!), Tabitha's soft breaths, and Lauren's slightly loud, but more steady, exhales, she went up into her bay window. 

The stars were coming over the Quidditch pitch and Mari thought of all the times she had laid away at her window back home. She used to dream up these wonderful adventures that she would go on and not have to be confined to common life. This would be better than those had ever been. The dawn would signal the beginning of that great adventure. 

A/N This is the longest thing I have ever written. Go me. I feel good though, cause I got into the school play, West Side Story. YAY! I'm one of the Jets, Big Deal is my name!! It's a guy's part, but I got it anyway. 

I'm sorry this is so long and pointless, but it was so darn fun to write!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Thankies!

The Minnesotan in England

aka Mr. Zelgadis

aka Cinderella

aka LA

aka Courfeyrac

@@@marzoog@@@


	2. Starting Out On the Wrong Foot

A/n this has been HEAVILY edited from the previous version, I hope you like it. I beg for reviews!!! 

"Nothing Endures but Change"

by marzoog

Part 1

"Not Quite Paradise" 

Chapter 1 

"Starting on the Wrong Foot"

Thirteen year-old Marissa Irvine woke up and looked out the window of her Ravenclaw dormitory. She heard groaning and assumed her friends were getting up. One reason Mari was glad to be in Sunset was that she didn't have to stand the sun rising filling the room with unwanted light. Chat often complained about it. 

Marissa loved Hogwarts and everything about it, although she was muggle born. It was like home to her now. Almost more like home than her small, concrete block in London where her family lived. 

A skinny medium height muggle girl with shoulder length brown hair and the biggest dark brown eyes you ever did see shot up from under her sheets. 

"Mari, you up?" groaned Lauren Johnson. 

"Yep, "she yawned, "We have to get up now, its 7:00. I hate getting up early." 

"Me too," groaned Lauren, before she started laughing at Ellie Miller, a rather substantial girl with clear piercing blue eyes and brown hair with bangs, an American girl who had been raised by Witches and Wizards, was rolling over and saying "Go Away" to Tabitha Spain, who was tickling her feet to get her up. Tabitha was a very thin medium height girl who seemed to be all brown except the white around her eyes, she was so tan. She had the distinction of having a muggle mother and wizard father. 

Anne Roberts was hovering in between sleep and waking before Mari got up, and tickled her so hard that her blonde head shot up from under the covers, and her gray eyes were suddenly alert. 

Tabitha stood up and the four of them stared laughing as their other friends burst through the door. 

Alexandria Musk (Alex, or Musky, for short) was a small, thin little girl with glasses, big blue watery eyes and very light brown hair, was howling at the sight of Ellie.

Emily Cosby, a rather tall, average weight, girl with almost black hair that went to the middle of her back and large brown eyes and who was a Muggle, was telling Ellie she should have gotten up if she didn't want that to happen.

Janice Cobra was the tallest of the group with short black hair and very dark brown eyes was laughing at Ellie and going over to tickle her more. Janice's eyes gleamed evilly as she did so. 

Lastly Chat Fakes appeared in the doorway. She was also very tall and very skinny and had very long legs. She was Malaysian, but had lived in Britain most of her life. She had brown skin and black eyes, her face was somewhat rounded and her black hair fell over her shoulders in her usual half ponytail. Her cheeks went out very far as she laughed heartily at Ellie.

Alex was the first to speak up, "You guys better get ready or you'll be late to breakfast." Alex was the kind of person who was teased for telling those motherly, "good for you", kind of orders. 

Lauren replied, "Yeah, I hate getting up."

To that everyone replied "Me too" and they all broke down laughing. 

"First day of third year" said Mari philosophically as the laughter subsided. Mari was always the philosophical type. 

"Yeah, who wants more school?" Janice said

Mari shrugged her shoulders, "Its better than home for me" she replied honestly.

"God Mari you're such a dork" said Alex sarcastically

Yeah, aren't I?" she did her cute smile that made her checks puff out to her glass. She was the shortest of the group, and anything but skinny. Mari was not skinny, but she was not "flat" in the least. She had brown hair with gold and copper highlights. She was also noted for loud laughing and a sarcastic tongue. Most of the boys hated her, but she didn't care. She had her friends. It had been awful when Voldemort had killed one of their friends last year. 

T.Q., Tyrannical Queen. They had called her that because her real name was Ellie, so they wouldn't confuse her with the other Ellie. She had been very tall, very skinny, with the longest dark brown hair, and she had had a clear complexion with some freckles that were the bane of her existence. 

She had been a "half-blood", and her parents were vehemently against the calling people by their "blood" and if they their family had been magical or Muggle. They had been very open about their views and were constantly expressing their outrage at people being called those things, so Voldemort killed them, T.Q. and T.Q.'s younger sister Anne at Easter break. 

It had come as an owl from Voldemort to "The Second Year Ravenclaw Girls." They had thought it was from T.Q., so Tabitha had opened it and practically fainted. Mari had been the next to pick it up and had screamed and started to cry, but she had been able to tell them in a whisper full of tears and sobs.

Mari seemed to recall that moment as they sat together, thinking that one more of their number should have been there. 

As they walked they walked into the Great Hall Mari saw two of her friends who were in second year, Jane Gal and Roberta, Bobbie or Bob for short, Headerson. She motioned to her other friends to go sit down by them at the Ravenclaw table. 

Jane was extremely skinny and of a medium height with shoulder length light brown hair, that had streaks of gold in it, which was up in its usual bun, her light blue eyes were surrounded by her very long, dark black eyelashes and her face was dotted with light freckles. She had been rather disappointed when she had been put in Ravenclaw; she had wanted to be with the one friend she had had before the start of Hogwarts who was there, Marie Stylobuche. But Marie had been sorted into Hufflepuff and Jane into Ravenclaw. Eventually she became friends with Bobbie and was happy that she was in Ravenclaw. Mari regarded her as one of the "gang". 

Bobbie was slightly taller than Jane, with blond hair down past her shoulders up in her usual ponytail. She was also skinny, but wore her clothes rather baggy. Her almost white eyes bulged out like her checks when she laughed, which she often did. Her family were Muggles but she and her two brothers were wizards. 

Mari had seen two rather nervous first years in the library on the first day of school last year, so she went up and talked to them. She helped them with their work and they helped her with hers. They had become in the habit of studying after school in the library on most days. And in doing so were very good friends. 

After breakfast the eleven Ravenclaws went back up to the common room and got their things. Mari's first class was her best, Charms. She had always reined top of the year at it, even above Lily Evans. She had it with all the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, and although she knew she would have to work hard with all the best students in the year in that class, she would still be top of Charms if hard work could do it.

She wished Jane and Bobbie luck at having potions with Professor Comebien first. Then she went with her other friends down the corridor to the Charms classroom. She took a seat next to Janice and Tabitha and got out her parchment and quill. 

Professor Dix (pronounced like the French for ten, DE-ISS), who was the Charms professor, welcomed them to a new year and started to explain what they'd be doing throughout the year. 

As usual Sirius Black and his little "gang" of Marauders were making trouble, and as usual Lily Evans and her friends were laughing at them and taunting them. Mari liked Lily and she agreed that the Marauder's fooling around was not funny, but immature, so she joined along in yelling at them. This was much to the surprise of her friends. Mari was loud, but in class she usually didn't yell insults out like that. 

Mari saw Lauren staring at Andrew Gewstone, as usual. Lauren was always staring at him. Mari knew she liked him; it was something she didn't need to be told to know. Personally Mari hated Andrew, Peter and his little gang of minion boy Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who liked nothing better than to tease her, but she had to admit he was smart. He was right behind Sirius Black, James Potter and Lily Evans. She was right behind him, but she was still the best at Charms.

And she saw Janice and Chat staring at the Gryffindor boy Jon Brandon, like usual. She knew that all the girls, except her, considered him hot, but she wasn't too sure. He could be very aggravating. Well…on second thought with that face he is kinda cute… Maybe they're right. I could see him ending up with Janice easily. They would be good together.

Emily was arguing with Jason Dropper about something and Mari joined in. Mari took Emily's side, as usual, and helped her win the argument, as usual. Jason Dropper tended to have rather illogical arguments. He over estimated his own brainpower often and was really lazy. 

But, by the taunting Mari usually gave him in class for it, Anne insisted she was in love with the prat. Mari's friends were always saying she was in love with someone or another. In First Year it had been Mc Greg, because he had actually made Mari become very loud compared to the small, shy First Year she had been. In Second Year it had been Gewstone, the only one who could sometimes top Mari in a debate and who she still constantly bickered with (Alex still insisted she was in love with him). Now it was on to Jason Dropper. This greatly annoyed Mari. Why her?

Finally Professor Dix dismissed them, only giving in them a small essay about what they did that summer and list of 5 charms and they had to write some practical situations where they could be used. 

Next was History of Magic, one of Mari's most boring classes. Professor Binns (who was alive then, but a very gray old man) rattled on about Witch-hunts and why they were pointless for the whole class before they were released. 

Ellie had almost fallen asleep and the girls had to shake her before she got up. Another round of "Fuck off' s and "Thank God"s that Professor Binns had not heard her or they would have lost points. 

Next were Potions and Mari was not wild about that prospect at all. Professor Combien was very nice, but he could make a double feel like an eternity and after being five minutes in his class you longed to get out. Mari was very good at Potions and last year had nearly toped the class. Mari liked Potions enough, but she knew that Severus Snape would become a Potions Professor, not her. Chat sometimes insisted she should be. 

Today he did a review of the main things they did from last year and it was very boring. They all longed to go to lunch and halfway though Mari could hear Ellie's stomach grumble. Mari couldn't help chuckling. 

"Miss Irvine, what is so funny?" Professor Combien said rebuking.

"Yeah Mari, Huh, huh huh? What's so funny?' Said Hufflepuff Barry James, a very annoying blond kid. Janice's warning of him being a git were justified. He seemed to like picking on Mari especially. 

'Oh, its just that we're all so hungry our stomachs are growling, and I could hear several people's stomachs from where I am."

"Yeah, and you find that funny? Hearing others suffering at not having food is funny to you?" Barry said in mock offence

"Mr. James, that's enough." Professor Comebien stopped him, much to the relief of Mari.

The Professor prattled on for the rest of the period on the importance of potions and for homework they had to write an essay on one of the reasons why it was so important.

"Finally, lunch!" exclaimed Lauren

"Really, I thought he would never stop!" Alex added

'It was so boring too, as if we wanted to know the importance of potions." Said Janice

"Its not like any of us, except Mari, listened anyway.' Chat teased

'Well, I like to get good grades, darlings (in Cha-Cha Gabor accent)" Mari protested

"Ok then" said Emily with her eyebrows raised. 

They went down to lunch and Emily and Mari sat next to Jane and Bobbie so the group of Ravenclaws ate together at their table. Then the group of popular Marauder fan club girls came over. You couldn't really help liking them despite it all.

Pari (short of Parisien, the French term for anything from Paris) was very beautiful. With red streaked black hair, Indian brown skin, and dark eyelashes surrounding her black eyes.

Kate Glass was a very nice Hufflepuff with short, fluffy, whitish blond hair and light blue eyes. Mari liked her a lot and they chatted about what classes they had and how they hated them. She was very smart and was only in Hufflepuff due to the overflow of girls in Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw counted her among their number often.

Kate, or Katie to distinguish her from the other Kate, Woody was a little short but with her very high platforms she was as tall as Pari. She also had bleached blond hair and clear sky blue eyes. She was likeable, or hateable, it depended on how you viewed her. Mari liked her. She was always nice, although sometimes a bit patronizing to Mari. 

'Hey guys!" Pari greeted them. 

"Hi!" replied Janice

Kate came over and sat across from Mari and next to Tabitha

"Hi Kate" Tabitha started

'How was your day so far?" inquired Mari

'Fine, muggle studies. You know who easy that is." Kate was a muggle, so she was always getting As in Muggle studies.

"Us muggles really should drop it, should we?" said Mari in jest

"Yeah, last year I got 110%!" complained Bobbie over Emily's shoulder.

"Really, I should drop it, but I don't want to do arithmancy!" complained Mari.

Everyone laughed as the marauders changed Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy's hair pink and purple. Dumbledore himself laughed, but Mc Gonagall scowled, and as no one had proof it was the Marauders, although everyone knew it was them, they couldn't be punished. What else was new? Mari smiled at the seeming lack of change. 

The Ravenclaw girls were laughing so hard Alex said

"Shit, I almost peed in my pants"

Everyone broke down laughing again at that. Alex had a notably active bladder. Every two hours, at least, she scurried off to the bathroom. They barely could finish their lunches, because their jaws hurt from laughing so hard. Soon lunch was over and the prospect of Transfiguration. 

"Damn it! You know Mc Gonagall will give us a pile of homework or a test soon, even if her classes are fun.' Complained Ellie

'Damniful." said Lauren (a/n its Lauren's suffix ok? She says "Iful" at the end of a lot of words. One of my friends does that so I'm making her character do it too.)

'Well, I don't want a test!" exclaimed Ellie

"But Ellie, its your best subject! You don't have to complain!" Mari couldn't help telling Ellie off.

"So, I'm lazy, I hate tests!"

'Whatever." Said Mari, Ellie, she reflected could be rater odd sometimes.

They had Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs and although Mari was glad she could talk to Kate, she didn't like having to be in the same room with Peter Mc Greg and Andrew Gewstone's complete gang of idiots. They always had it in for her. 

When they got into the Transfiguration room they were greeted by Professor Mc Gonagall, a woman in her late thirties who's classes were always fun, even if you found yourself steeped in homework afterward. Mari liked Professor Mc Gonagall, though she gave too much homework in Mari's opinion.

They started talking about transfiguring objects and they got out their parchment and pens and took notes on how they used object transfiguration at the ministry and how it was important. Basic object Transfiguration, Mari found, was not very hard at all. 

Mari was having to do the same thing every class, write how the class was important and useful in everyday life, and she was getting sick of it. But it didn't take long for her to write out the notes. She then picked up her favorite muggle novel: Anne of the Island (the 3rd Anne of Green Gables books). She laughed at how Gilbert had to walk around their town in an apron. Suddenly the book was snatched out of her hands and she was staring in the face of one Peter Mc Greg. 

"Give it back!!" she exclaimed

"She will kill you." Was Tabitha's comment

"She will." Lauren added

"Fine, this book is garbage anyway."

'Well, then you obviously haven't read much" was Mari's retort

"Class settle down." Said McGonagall casually

"Sorry Professor, he stole my book."

"Mc Greg, don't do that again. Hear me?"

"Yes Professor." He said meek as a mouse

Class continued and it was almost done when Peter said

"You know Irvine, you really shouldn't have been reading in class."

"I like to read, and besides I was done with my assignment."

"Yeah, but it was rude to read in class don't you think?"

"Not if I was done with my assignment. It is better to read quietly then disrupt class by talking to others.' She returned to her assignment not wanting to continue the conversation. 

'Irvine, Mc Greg, if I catch either of you 2 talking while you're supposed to be working, I'll…I'll…give the whole class a test on what you learned last year in detail and it will not be as easy as the exams you had last year."

Everyone paled; the end of year exam last year had been so hard that usually very smart people were left in the dark to the answers. Ellie herself had only managed a 92% and she was the best in the class. The highest score of the whole grade had been James Potter; he had managed, only god knows how, to get a 97%. 

Mari kept her mouth shut until the last seconds of class. Peter whispered in her ear as he went by to show something to McGonagall,

"You really have problems. You're such a freak. Even your friends think you are."

That was it. Mari blew up.

**"You…you…you asshole!!!!! How dare you say that about me!!!!!"** She shrieked and sprung up and hit him on the head with her textbook, hard.

"Miss Irvine! Twenty points from Ravenclaw for this outburst! And next time you disrupt my class you will get a detention as well. You have also given the class a test on object transfiguration on Friday, which they will be very thankful to you for."

"But Professor, he said something very rude and provoking about me and my friends."

"What did he say? I don't have time for excuses, so if its nothing really bad I don't want to hear it."

"He said…he said I was a freak and my friends think so too." She said faintly and quietly. A tear almost leaked out of her steel gray eyes, but no, not in front of everyone, she wouldn't cry. What was that old muggle rhyme, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me." That was it: words would never harm her. 

"Oh, I see…in that case twenty points for Mr. Mc Greg's misconduct, a detention for him, and a test in his honor. Miss Irvine, I am sorry you had to hear that. No points will be taken from you, however I suggest you not have any more outbursts in my class. Mc Greg, you will stay after class to arrange your detention."

Then the bell rang and the class was let out. Chat and Alex put their arms around Mari's shoulders and told her Peter Mc Greg was an asshole and she shouldn't listen to him. He was lying; Mari knew her friends never thought of her as a freak. Lauren and Emily suggested they go to the kitchens after diner and get some butter beer and popcorn and other sugary snacks. That made Mari feel better. 

In Defense Against the Dark Arts they simply sat and listened to how each other's summer was. Mari drooped her head on her desk and just listened. She wouldn't cry. But the taunt rang in her head over and over. Finally she told herself, "That's it! I won't let him get the pleasure of seeing me upset! I will hold my head high and thank god that I am not a stupid prick like him who has to argue his way to get passing grades."

She held her head up high and did not give any signs as to show that she was hurt by his taunt. His opinion mattered for nothing anyway. And, Mari realized, it didn't. 

After class everyone went back to the common room and did their homework. Hey, they were Ravenclaws. Then they all went down to diner, but Mari had to go to the bathroom, so she went there first. After she came out of the bathroom she saw Jane walking down the corridor. 

"Hey J!" she said her usual greeting to the Second Year

"Hey Marissa, how are you?"

"Lousy as ever. Peter Mc Greg, that asshole, said that I was a freak. I hit him over the head with my text book."

"Good for you! Somebody had to do it!"

"Yeah, but…but… He had no right to say that about me!" 

"True. Come on, we have to get to diner or it will be all gone."

They went into the Great Hall and sat down next to Tabitha and Lauren, who were in an argument about weather there was a point to existence.

"Tab, come on, I'm sorry to say, but its bullshit. Of course there is a point to existence." Taunted Ellie

"Really Tab, there is one."

"What is it then?"

"To make a better future for people." interjected Mari.

"Yeah, but why? Its not like you owe them anything."

"Well, what bad things have they done to you?"

"None, but what good things have they done to you?"

"Hey I hate to break up this conversation, but its kinda of pointless don't you think?" interposed Emily

"I guess. But I still think your theory is bull shit."

"Fine, we'll agree to disagree," laughed Tabitha.

Diner whizzed by and soon Mari found herself in bed. It had been wonderful to go back to Hogwarts, even if she had started on the wrong foot.

A/N I am hopeless towards getting any reviews for this fic….::sighs:: 

I have gone back and edited this, as well as have written a Prologue. 

REVIEW!!!!

The Minnesotan in England

aka Les Mis Freak

aka Cinderella

aka IAMVALANCY

@@@gnome girl aka marzoog@@@


	3. In the Need of Comic Relief

A/n The romance in this fic will happen as you dictate. AS only the people and some of the situations in this fic are based off of real life, who ends up with who is completely up to you. 

I hope you like this!!!! I am really enjoying writing it!!!!!!

Standard disclaimers, as always, apply. 

Nothing Endures but Change

By marzoog

Chapter 2

"In the Need of Comic Relief"

Mari, Lauren, and Emily were up in the library studying for their Transfiguration test. Tabitha, Janice and Chat were at Quidditch, Tabitha was a chaser and Janice was a keeper and Chat was a beater. It was their first practice of the year. Alex and Ellie were trying to find the kitchens to get food. Lily Evans from Gryffindor was helping them. 

Just as they were discussing their new classes Jane and Bobbie walked in. Mari, Lauren and Emily ran up to greet them. They looked very tired and slightly pale. 

"What's the matter?" said Mari right as they got within speaking distance

"Jenny Branch in second year's family has just been killed by Voldemort." Bobbie said quietly

"Oh," said Emily if she couldn't say any more she was so chocked.

Mari felt a not grow in her throat. She knew the second year Hufflepuff well and had liked her a lot. She recalled all the times she had seen Jenny smiling at her as she passed her in the library. Or the times when she had seen Jenny get a letter from her family. And she would never get one again. 

Mari stifled a sob. She could tell Lauren and Emily were doing the same thing. They were thinking the same thing: Who would be next?

Jane and Bobbie eyes were bloodshot, as if they had been crying hard. Mari didn't blame them. They had been friends with the friendly, happy little blond second year. Nobody could dislike her, except Slytherins, because she was muggle born. And she, one of the nicest people in the world, was now an orphan because she was a witch born to muggles. It wasn't fair. Why should someone who is so nice and good have their family taken away?

The group stood silent for a few minutes, each contemplating how this change would affect them and people they knew. It was depressing to think of it.

They then went back to their table and continued to study, with only half of their mind on transfiguration. 

Finally when it seemed Mari's mind could absorb no more information about transfiguration she decided to go meet Chat, Tabitha and Janice as they left Quidditch. She bade goodbye to Lauren, Emily, Jane, and Bobbie, and walked through the corridors. It took her a good ten minutes to get to the entrance hall, and then she walked onto the Quidditch pitch. 

She saw David Boot, a tall rather dark fourth year, coming out of the locker rooms and asked him if the others were done too.

"A few of the others stayed behind to practice. Who are you looking for? If you're looking for Andrew Gewstone I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell at him so loud this time." 

"I'm not looking for him. I forgot he was even on the team this year. I was looking for my friends Tabitha, Janice and Chat." 

"Oh, yeah, they are still on the field practicing their passing." 

"Thanks David. See ya." She said as she walked on.

"You're welcome. Bye." He left to go to the castle.

She saw them all up in the air on their broomsticks practicing their passing skills. She waved to them and went into the middle of the pitch. All three zoomed down and waved to her. 

"What's the matter?" Chat said first

"You know that second year Hufflepuff, Jenny Branch?"

"Yeah, she's nice, what's up with her?"

"Voldemort killed her family."

"Oh," Tabitha sounded very shocked and hurt, her broomstick wavered down a little.

All three got themselves on terra firma, and they went with heavy heads and hearts to the locker room. They then went into the castle and up to the common room. Mari thought that it never looked so wonderfully comfortable with its blue couches and carpets. 

Then she heard the taunting voices of Andrew Gewstone and Peter Mc Greg. 

"Hello, did you do your charms homework? Cause you know I just love charms." Rang Peter's annoying voice

"Well, at least I know enough about charms to do my homework." She sassed back. Never mind that she was on the point of tears. 

"Yeah, well you still can't manage to beat me I see." Andrew threw out the insult as if it was all that mattered in his opinion of people, weather they beat him or not at grades

"Just barely, and soon you won't." she flipped her hair over her shoulder and stormed up the stairs to the dorm in fury, tears forgotten. 

She saw Lauren and Tabitha sprawled out on the floor doing homework and Ellie and Alex were pillow fitting on the bed, and Janice, Chat and Emily were all having a powwow over a bowl of popcorn. 

"There you are, doll," said Janice

"Get your not so petite butt over here" motioned Emily

Mari went over and sat down by Janice. She got some popcorn and put it in her mouth. Mari wondered how they had managed to get it.

"How did they manage to get your greasy paws on this popcorn?"

"Oh, it was easy. Alex and Ellie got it. Once they got into the kitchen, with help from Lily Evans, the house elves will give you anything you ask for. They wanted popcorn I guess, but are too busy with their pillow fight to eat, so we decided to."

At that they all laughed. Especially when Lauren got up and practically screamed 

"BE QUIET! Tabitha and I are trying to do our homework!"

"Gee Lauren what do you have left after all that time in the library?" queried Emily

"Hey, I want to get an A+ on that Transfiguration test, and Tab had Quidditch, so we have our reasons." 

"Yeah, well go to the other dorm if you want to study, we're having fun!" exclaimed Ellie

"But this is my dorm as well as yours and we have the right to study of we want." Tabitha objected in a calm, matter of fact voice. 

"So, if you want to study go to the Common Room! We want to have fun!" Alex reasoned

"Fine then!" exclaimed Lauren, with mock offence, "Let's go Tab."

"Ok, I need some quiet to do my homework."

"Lauren, don't be mad just cause we want to have some fun." Mari did her cute smile and everyone laughed.

She and Tab left to go to the Common Room, and the rest of the girls continued in their previous actives: Alex went back to hitting Ellie over the head with a pillow, Emily and Mari continued singing a funny song they had made up, and Chat and Janice keep eating the popcorn and talking. 

Suddenly Jane and Bobbie burst into the room. 

"Man you guys are making a lot of noise," Bobbie complained

"Really, could you be any louder?" Jane asked sarcastically

"Oh come on Janie? We weren't really that loud?" Mari did her cute look again and Ellie commented

"God, Mari, that cute look gets old after awhile."

"No I don't think it does." Mari did it again and everybody broke down laughing.

"Man did we need some comic relief!" said Jane, "I feel so bad for Jenny that I haven't laughed all day, or at least it feels that way."

"Well you have to laugh sometime! Life wouldn't be worth living if we couldn't laugh and see the humor in things." Cute looking again Mari said earnestly.

"Don't go being all preachy on us again Mari!" exclaimed Ellie.

"Sorry, couldn't help it, its just what I do."

"You can help it!" said Emily, "You can help everything."

"Are you asking me to not act like Marissa Irvine?"

"I'm saying that you can help preaching morals at the speed of light to us." Emily explained

"But I don't wanna! I like being me!"

"Yeah, she likes being herself, just let her herself." Bobbie said

"See Bobbie agrees with me and she is near the top of her year!" Mari was pretending to be very thankful. In reality she felt like an energizer bunny, hopping, hopping…. not able to stop…Fake under all her energy 

They spent the rest of the night laughing and gossiping, anything to keep the subject off the death of the Branches. Lauren and Tabitha finished their homework and came up, they continued to have fun and gossip over recent events and then suddenly Chat looked at her watch:

"Crap, it's midnight," complained Chat, "We have to go to bed, or we'll be in it deep."

"Well, to bed I guess. I wish we didn't have to get up tomorrow, or today rather, morning," exclaimed Bobbie. 

"Bye GUYS!" Jane and Bobbie left to go to their dorms.

"Yeah, we have to go too" said Janice, "Come on people, let's go." Janice pretended to act as a mother and shooed the girls in her dorm out.

"Goodbye!" each one called as they left. Janice was the last one to leave. 

"Goodbye dolls!" she called as she left.

After Mari got in her pajamas and lay down in bed she thought about all the good times she had had at Hogwarts, how she loved it there, how she had never wanted things to change. They were certainly pleasant reflections…

The next day Mari started out the day in anticipation of breakfast. Sure enough, Dumbledore made a speech that seemed to try to help the students get over Jenny's loss, but it didn't. All Mari could really take in was poor little Jenny with her face in her hands. Mari's heart felt wrenched in two. She could have slain Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy with the glares she gave them, if they had seen them and had been able to die by looks. The only one who noticed was a tall girl at the near end of the table, who somehow too looked as though she was pained by the loss of Jenny's family…

Mari laughed as she saw Divination was first on her list. It was the first lesson of the year, and Mari was somewhat nervous. She had heard, however, that Professor Seajeff, the Divination teacher, was quite nice. She apparently gave no homework and that had been Mari's reason for joining Divination. 

Janice and Emily were the only others in Mari's Divination class. They walked the long route from the Great Hall to the Divination Tower in a slow steady pace as they talked on. It was not in their best interest to be fast. 

When they arrived at the Divination classroom, however, they saw a lovely cozy room with cushy chairs and round tables. There was a large gap in the center where Professor Seajeff was seated. This left some space in the center and made the room look rather larger than it was. 

Professor Seajeff was a kindly looking stout lady with graying hair. She seemed too sympathetic, but, as Mari later discovered, had a large sense of humor. 

Class proceeded with a long introduction by the Professor and many jokes and wise cracks of one Fourth Years, whom Mari knew as Jim Bones. He made so many interruptions that Mari couldn't help but feel sorry for Professor Seajeff as she tried to continue on with class. 

"Well…that was interesting…" Janice commented to Emily and Mari as they walked out of class

"What was interesting about it?" Mari queried

"That Jim kept interrupting, and, if you noticed, Professor Seajeff spoke in a French accent, and when she talked to herself it was in French." 

"Yeah…that's kinda weird. Do you think we'll have to speak French around her?" 

"I don't know, I just noticed she was talking in French." 

"Where are Ellie and the others?" Emily pondered. 

"Don't know, probably going down. Let's see if we can meet them on the Grand Staircase." With that the three girls rushed off to find the other Ravenclaws. 

After lunch was the Transfiguration test. Peter was being frowned at for it. The whole class seemed to have a lot of revenge to release in their countenances. 

The test was pretty hard, Mari had to admit, but it wasn't as hard as the exam last year. Or maybe, she reflected, it was just easier stuff to them now. Either way Mari figured she could at least scrape up an A-. 

Lauren was hyperventilating after the test. 

"Mari, what if I didn't do well! I have to well in Transfiguration! It's so hard I told myself I'd do really well…" Lauren started panicking

"Calm down Lauren, don't worry, it was an easy test. I'm sure you did great!" 

"But you're good at Transfiguration, I'm not!" Lauren exclaimed

"Yes you are Lauren, I've seen your Transfiguration grades, they're great!" 

Lastly the Ravenclaws had Charms. Mari sat, with her hands folded and proper, and listened to the increasingly boring lecture. She was the only one probably, except maybe Lily Evans, taking notes. Nobody would have guessed she was doing this merely to keep herself occupied and not for an actual purpose. 

Andrew Gewstone stared at her with a look of disgust on his face. 

"You're pathetic, you know. Taking notes in class when Dix doesn't give a damn if we so much as give an ounce of effort in our work." 

"If I'm pathetic, than you're beyond pathetic. At least I'll know the correct preparation for the cheering charm, and unlike some, I will be prepared." Mari hurriedly defended herself before running to catch up with her friends. 

After class Mari headed off to the library and met Jane and Bobbie. They discoursed on the hard day, and after, typically Ravenclaw like, finishing her homework, they walked back to the Common Room. 

Mari lazed around the Common Room (in her pajamas, as always) and finished going over her cheering charm notes. God…everyone could use a cheering charm now…

Mari had a dream that night. She was there in her dorm. Eating popcorn, drinking sprite and gossiping with her friends. It seemed wonderful, but not destined to last. It seemed as if a dark shadow had descended over them, over everyone. Like something dark had laid its hands on their lives. A dark shadow that would not recede until it had touched _everyone_. 

Mari woke up with a shiver. Her dream had seemed so real, _too real. _It was just a silly dream, not real. Nevertheless, Mari couldn't help feeling that a dark cloud had descended over her life. Nah, it was just her imagination. 

Mari crawled out of bed and picked up a thick volume of _Les Miserables_. She was known for being obsessed with the wonderful novel. Mari tipped toed out the room, almost waking Lauren, who was a light sleeper. She made her way down the cold stone stairs and down to the comfy couches of the Common Room. Mari often crept down here late o' nights and read. It calmed her in some way nothing else could. Reading was what she loved most. 

Instinctively she knew she was not alone. 

"Look, I'm sorry Pari, but I just don't think it will work out between us." She heard Peter Mc Greg's annoying Scottish voice say, and it almost seemed like he himself was on the verge of…. tears? 

"Fine, if you don't care, I won't. Goodbye Peter." Pari's usually friendly, kind, voice almost seemed mean or cold or hard or…. some thing Mari couldn't define. 

"Excuse me, but what is Pari doing in here?"

Peter looked up at her on the staircase, and Mari noticed he was alone. 

"What the heck? I heard Pari's voice a moment ago, and you were talking to her!" 

"I talked to her through the fire in the Hufflepuff Common Room." 

"Oh…" 

"Well what are _YOU_ doing here at all hours of the night?"

"I'm reading." 

"Ok, " his eyebrows rose, "well see you tomorrow morning."

"Goodbye." Mari's voice was cold, because she was annoyed. Peter Mc Greg interrupting her reading! And he had broken up with Pari! For what? Mari just couldn't understand, and at that time of night she felt she didn't want to. 

Peter walked up the stairs leaving Mari alone in the blueness of the Common Room. She plopped down on her favorite couch, right in front of the fire, and picked up the large volume. 

_"Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see one that will be presently extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold, lost as it is in the depths, small, isolated, a pin-point, brilliant but treated on all sides by the dark forces that surround it: nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in the jaws of the clouds" _

Somehow that passage comforted Mari like no other; there was hope in the world…. Even with Voldemort there. 

Somebody found her there at five in the morning, still with her book in her hand, asleep. And by peaceful look on her (they thought excessively pretty) face they could tell Mari Irvine was having a pleasant dream. There was no more need for comic relief. 

A/N Mari is not, and will never, fall in love with Peter. The person at the end is not him. And yes…. that person is supposed to have romantic thoughts towards Mari…even thought I don't have an excessively pretty face. You can think whoever you like is that person. I know who I think it is, and you wouldn't know the character. Unless you're Jenny and have heard me ramble on about this fic forever. 

Remember Pari and Peter's break-up…. IT WILL BECOME IMPORTANT 

I will continue on demand. Reviews will inspire me to continue faster ::hint hint:: I also want your romance pairings so I can throw them in there. Keep in mind that in order to pair certain couples up I might have to change their personalities and if I don't want to do that I'll tell you why. I have one main couple already, and I'm sure (again, unless you're Jenny and we have spent HOURS planning this one on the phone ::giggles::) you won't know who. 

Please note that I based Mari off myself, so she is not at all going to change in her character just to be paired with someone. That includes Zach, Katelyn!!! NO PEACHEYVILLE!!!! Sorry…. it's this thing where my friends think I'm going to live in a town called "Peacheyville" Minnesota and live a boring life married to this guy I hate. 

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

For Now

Your Minnesotan authoress

@@@gnome girl aka marzoog@@@


	4. Birdie, Birdie in the Sky

A/N I feel so bad. I have no reviews. That sucks. My friends seem to like it thought, which is good. 

I had no ideas; thank goodness the guys who I based Jason Dropper off of had a HEHE!!!! That's an understatement. I now have all the later chapters stored in my brain.

Now I do have a plot, although **some** of my friends complained I didn't. ::CoughJuliacough::

Thanks to **Montana Magic**, the fellow Minnesotan, who helped me see that I need to write out the numbers in story writing, so this chapter's for her.

I realized that it doesn't seem that I hate this Andrew Gewstone as much as Peter Mc Greg, when in reality I hate them both just as much. And I will get more Slytherins in there, so it doesn't seem as if all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff boys are mean assholes. I need to make the Slytherins meaner.

Sorry for the long author's notes, I just felt like typing all this information out.

"Nothing Endures but Change"

Chapter 3 "Birdie, Birdie in the Sky…"

Things were going relatively normal for Marissa Irvine. She had her friends and they were all happy. She had only been called a mudblood by Lucius Malfoy twice and three times by Severus Snape. She continued to get mad at Peter Mc Greg about once every two days and was spiteful to Andrew Gewstone at least once a day. It was fun to get Andrew back for all his mean comments by being spiteful to him. She could tell he really liked Lauren though, and it annoyed her. Why did her best friend have to like one of her worst enemies?

One hazy Sunday morning she made her way down to the Quidditch pitch. Mari liked to ride her broom; she just didn't have the taste, talent or time for Quidditch. 

Mari never liked to wear anything but her pajamas in the common room, but outside she had to wear a pair of ill-fitting bad looking crushed black velvet pants and a blue plaid shirt which was, as most of her shirts were, extremely baggy and used.

She got on her broom and floated gently up into the sky. She zoomed around awhile on the pitch. Going here, there, and everywhere. She liked to "commune" with the sky her friends said. It was considered among them another one of Mari's foibles. 

Thank goodness that Andrew Gewstone or Peter Mc Greg had never got wind of her flying excursions, she would have never heard the end of it!!!! Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were one thing, but they only cared to know that she was muggle born and that was it. They didn't have the time or energy to care to tease her about every little thing. 

Mari loved everything about being out in the sky, like she was a bird. Mari had always wanted to be a bird when she was little. She suddenly remembered her Grandpa saying that if he were an animal he would love to be an eagle. Mari wouldn't want to be an eagle somehow, she had thought hard of what she would be, she had said a blue bird because they were "pwetty", but that didn't seem right now. She wanted to soar, over everything, but still enjoy the satisfaction of being on earth. Yes, she thought, she'd be a dove. Soaring above everything, yet always loving and loved by humans. She would be a dove. 

Now although, as you have probably seen, Mari had a temper the size of Texas, she had a sensitive side that very few people ever saw. She could be quiet or meek, or scream at people in the middle of class if she wanted to. She was not afraid to be either of those, but right now she was just thinking out loud and never laughing. In her private thoughts Mari rarely laughed, it was only on the outside she did that all the time.

"I suppose fall is the prettiest time of year" she said aloud to herself, "It's almost depressing though, like it's the old year dying. Man that grass looks like green velvet." She continued on for sometime in this fashion, just talking to herself. Then she started to hum her favorite Beatles tune "Yesterday". Mari thought the lyrics were very appropriate to the scene. In the late September afternoon it looked so dead and old. And beautiful.

Suddenly Mari heard someone say, "How can you sing on a broomstick? Aren't you going to ride it?" 

It was a voice Mari had never heard before and certainly didn't recognize. She turned around and was face to face with a girl who looked about 16. She was rather thin, with dark curly hair and dark large eyes. She looked friendly enough, but also very reserved, and almost like she was smirking and looking down on Mari. 

"Who are you?" Mari asked almost gruffly, she didn't like to be disturbed when she was alone.

"I'm Angel Thompson. Who are you?"

"Marissa Irvine."

"You're the one who hit that little moron Mc Greg with a text book, right?"

"Yeah, I did," the creases of Mari's lips formed a smile, the vengeance of that had been sweet, "He deserved it."

"You're telling me. You're in Ravenclaw aren't you?"

"Yep. What house are you in?"

Angel shuddered, "Slytherin, I hate it too!" she exclaimed, "Everyone is so secretive and they all will end up as Death Eaters. I don't want to be a Death Eater, and they would gladly betray their friends for power." 

"I'm glad I'm in Ravenclaw," said Mari honestly, if not almost naively, "I think that the Slytherins are malicious, no offence. Why were you put in there?"

"I don't know, I think the hat was confused. That's the only reason I can see." 

"You should be proud to be a Slytherin." Malfoy's voice came behind Angel

"Get lost you little creep." Mari exclaimed

"Its Slytherin Quidditch practice, we have the pitch Irvine, its you who should get lost mudblood." 

Mari almost lunged towards him and tried to knock him off his broom, but she held herself back.

"Shut it you little twerp." Angel exclaimed

"I would talk, mudblood wannabe." 

"Oh, I'm just trembling on my broomstick."

Mari almost cracked a smile. Sarcasm to Malfoy was always enjoyable to see. And she decided that she liked Angel, all the other Slytherins would have joined in with Malfoy, but she had defended Mari, maybe it was some mistake that she was in Slytherin.

"Well, I'll just let you hang out with this reject Thompson." And with that he flew away. Mari almost wanted to go push him off his broomstick again.

"He is such an asshole!" she exclaimed

"Don't worry about him Marissa, he is just so pitiful that he has to boost himself up by hurting others."

"Where did you learn that shit." said Mari a wee bit sarcastically 

"My mom's a counselor." She said simply 

"I suppose its true, only he's so provoking!" 

"Ain't that the truth?" 

"Yeah, and why they let people like him into the school is a mystery to me."

"Because, the people who started Hogwarts were morons in some respects, but we shouldn't be prejudice, that would be stooping to their level, and we shouldn't do that." 

"You spend too much time with your mom."

"Not true, I just get told this shit over and over till I can't help memorizing it."

"I see."

"Yeah, well I got to go, Quidditch practice. Nice meeting you."

"You too." 

With that Angel swept away on her broomstick and Mari flew out of the pitch to leave the Slytherins to practice. She went over to her favorite spot by the lake. There was a small waterfall there and the last time she had been there, there had been many beautiful flowers. Now though, she knew, it would be full of fall colors and dead leaves. 

Sure enough, the leaves were floating in the water, like dead yesterdays, forgotten and dead, but still there. (A/n remember the symbolism, it will come in later) 

"Oh, fall is so depressing, everything that was alive in spring is dead and forsaken now!" she said to herself

"True, but it has to for it to be spring again when everything is alive. If everything stayed the same there would be nothing new or beautiful, like spring." Rang a taunting voice.

"That was beautiful, I wonder why you weren't a poet." said Mari sarcastically knowing the persons voice

"Yeah, well, its true, and you know it." Rang another taunting voice

"Why are you two here? Don't you have girls to flirt with?" The last people on earth she wanted at her secret spot were Peter Mc Greg and Andrew Gewstone.

"Yeah, well we were taking a walk." Rang another third voice Mari recognized as Alex Rent, one of the little Mg Greg/Gewstone group of dwebs. 

"What are you doing here?" Andrew said as if she was in the wrong for being there, not them. 

"I went out for a ride and the Slytherins kicked me off the pitch, I came here, happy? No go continue on your walk."

"No, we like annoying you better." Peter was pushing it

"I will go then, Good bye." She picked up her broom and soared off trying not to make a fool of herself and make a somewhat grand exit. She didn't fumble or fall off, until her rode got caught in a tree about one minute later. 

She was horrified to see she was still viewing distance of the waterfall and the boys who were there. Why did this always happen when she was trying to make a clean exit? 

Mari stopped and tried to get her rode untangled, but found she couldn't. She groaned in frustration. Suddenly Angel appeared and helped her untangle it. 

"Don't you have practice?" Mari queried

"It's over, and I saw you tangled up in the tree."

"Thanks, I was trying to make a clean exit from jerk and jerkier, but I didn't succeed."

"It happens to all of us honey. Don't worry about it. Why should they care anyway?"

"Cause they'll tease the life out of me for it for the next twenty-four hours!" Groaning Mari and Angel flew back to the pitch and got into the locker room. They then walked up to the castle and found it was time for lunch. Mari went over and sat by her friends.

"What were you doing hanging out with that sixth year Slytherin Angel Thompson?" asked Ellie, none too nicely.

"She's nice. She helped me untangle my robes from a tree when I was flying." Mari explained.

"Ok then Mari, but be careful."

"I don't need any warning for being friends with a Slytherin, I can handle my own friendship thank you."

"Hey, we left you alone with Mc Greg, and look what happened."

"Be quite Ellie," Emily butted in, "We shouldn't be prejudice against the Slytherins.

"Thanks Em." Mari told her over her shoulder 

"Don't call me Em. My name is Emily."

"Fine then, but it'll be hard." Mari smiled her almost superficial smile

"DO it!" Emily protested

"Ok, ok." Mari continued eating. She loved the food at Hogwarts. It was so good it almost seemed to taste just like she wanted it too, made tailored made to her taste. That was just one thing that made Mari love Hogwarts. 

The next morning Mari groaned at the first class she saw on her brightly decorated schedule. It was Herbology. If Mari hated any class more than Care of Magical Creatures, Flying or Muggle Studies, it was Herbology. 

The teacher Dr. Joseph was so hard she often made students cry with worry. Yet Dr. Joseph herself was nice enough, but she gave them so much homework and expected so much of them that they all basically hated her. They called her Dr. Bitch behind her back and good lord did she deserve it.

Mari was well liked enough by her, but she had something in for Emily. She always called Emily lazy and it got on Emily's nerves. 

She graded so hard that Mari had only pulled off an A- despite her best efforts. In short, Mari hated Herbology more than any other subject on Earth.

TO make matters worse it was Andrew Gewstone's best subject, and he let Mari know it. Tabitha also competed with him for the best grade in the class. And Tabitha usually won.

Worse still about Herbology was that they had it with Slytherins. Ugh, as if it wasn't bad enough to have to work her little butt off for an A-, but now, she had to do it with the Slytherins and Andrew Gewstone and Peter Mc Greg watching. IT was just not Mari's class. 

She walked down to the greenhouse in low sprits. It was not a pleasant prospect to sit in the cold, damp greenhouse on the cool misty morning, and listen to Dr. Joseph prattle on and tell jokes, then assign them 48 questions due in two weeks. You couldn't even hear her say it if you didn't sit in the front of the class. Which Mari had been assigned to. Across from Peter Mc Greg and next to Andrew Gewstone. 

Why was there no justice in the world? Mari couldn't even have the revenge of reading during class and getting the homework done and done well just the same, thanks to Tabitha's tutelage, because she was right under Dr. Joseph's nose. Ugh. Mari was so sick of Herbology. 

Thanks to having Peter and Andrew near her she was in a bad mood. She felt stupid and ditzy and like she wasn't worth anything. UGH. Mari was not having a good day. Being woken up by Lauren jumping on her and telling her to get up, fifteen minutes earlier than she had to!!!! Then at breakfast she had spilled her milk over her robe. Now she had Herbology, gosh, this day was getting better and better. 

Mari was having trouble with the lab they were doing. It was hard, and time consuming and very research based. Dr. Joseph was never gave them time or resources for research. Plus, to make matters worse, Andrew was complaining about how easy it was. _Damn him!!!!! Damn him and his smart-ass ways!!!!!_ Mari spat in her thoughts. 

Mari was bubbling up in her temper, but she needed to keep down. She went and asked Tabitha and Lauren about the lab, and they knew only little more than she did. Ugh, it really wasn't a good day.

Mari looked out the glass and she could see the sky. It was dull and gray. Just like my life, she thought. Her hands felt as cold as ice; she rubbed them together. Was it just her hands that were cold? Wasn't her soul a little chilled as well? God, I will not get depressed! My life is great! Only, then why am I longing for the past so much? She just didn't know.

Mari then went to see if Ellie, Janice, Chat, and Emily had the answers; Alex had a headache, so she had gone to the Hospital Wing. Janice was arguing with Ellie about the assignment, and Chat was working diligently on it; Emily was arguing with Jason Dropper, about how you could take over the world. Mari thought this a pointless argument and was pleased to join in and stop it. 

Herbology droned on and Mari was consumed in the hard class, she kept staring out the walls though, and almost seemed to be in what people artfully call "La-La-land". If Mari wasn't there she certainly was somewhere thousands of miles away from Dr. Joseph's Herbology class. Mari didn't even hear her name being called to answer a question. 

"Ms. Irvine…" She heard a voice loudly say

"Huh, what?"

"Could you answer the question?"

"What one was that?"

"The one I just asked you."

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention, what was the question?"

Mari answered the question, whatever it was, and didn't dare go to La-La-land for the rest of class. The minutes crawled on, as if it was the turtle in the race, and Mari practically counted the minutes until lunch. Finally the bell rang.

Mari practically ran out the door when the bell rang and went up to the castle, her friends, except Ellie, who was a Londoner, were trailing behind. She wanted to get out of the Ravenclaw dorms fast to avoid any meetings with Peter Mc Greg or Andrew Gewstone. She was not in the mood for humiliation.

She flew to the table before anyone else and sat down. Then Kate appeared on the other side of the table. Kate had just come from Muggle Studies and she was as un-happy as it was possible for Kate to be. 

"Ugh, Muggle Studies is driving me nuts! It's so preposterously easy and he actually expects us to do work." Kate's voice was not complaining, more matter of fact. Kate never really complained unless someone else started it; she must have been really mad.

"Well, dearie, that's why they have lunch. So we can get away from Muggle Studies." Mari laughed as she impersonated Janice's motherly act

Tabitha and Lauren got there just then and sat next to Mari. Mari noticed that Tabitha looked a little worn, but she knew that Tabitha was working very hard on her grades. Lauren's big brown eyes were also somewhat strained; everyone seemed to be nowadays. 

"Hey," Lauren said as she sat down next to Mari, "We didn't have to finish that essay for Transfiguration, did we?"

"No thank god." Mari told her; relief seemed to be flooding over Lauren's face. There was a reason she was in Ravenclaw; she tended to be uptight about her grades sometimes, especially Transfiguration.

Chat, Emily and Alex were the next to show up; Alex had just gotten out of the Hospital wing and was looking slightly blanched. Chat wasn't her usual smiley self, Mari was getting worried about her friends, and they all seemed so overworked and tired. Ellie was even spending her lunch hours in the library to have time to get her homework done.

She glanced analytically at the Slytherin table. They were all as sallow looking as ever, but somehow triumphant looking. Like they knew some sort of happy secret. In her first year Mari had wondered what their secret was, but now she knew it as well as she knew that there were stars in the sky at night. Voldemort was out there, growing in strength everyday. Hence the triumphant look in their eyes, except Angel. Mari could see that there was no such look on Angel's face.

_Weird…_though Mari, _she's a Slytherin, but she doesn't look as though she's triumphant, she looks just as worn and unhappy as some of us. I wonder what kind of mistake there was putting her in Slytherin…_ Words from Andrew Gewstone broke in through Mari's thoughts

"Oh, and Ms. Irvine here has wonderful potential for the empty spot on the Quidditch team, she has good flying skills, especially around trees." Andrew Gewstone was saying sardonically to Phillip Derek's, another gang member and one of the prominent teasers of Mari. 

Mari could have hit him. She wanted to hit him. But Lauren grabbed her arm. Mari sometimes needed Lauren or Tabitha or Emily or Janice to grab her arm. Mari could not really have a temper around Chat; Chat was just too nice to have a temper around. She also couldn't spout sarcasm or retort things around Kate. And Alex and Ellie always told her she needed anger management. Mari always got infuriated when they said that. It made her more irritated than what she had originally become mad from, and didn't all of Ravenclaw know it. She had been known on occasion to become absolutely livid whenever anyone said that she needed anger management.

Mari groaned at the next thing on her schedule: Muggle Studies. This was not going to be a good day was it? She only had Muggle Studies with Lauren and Tabitha because her other friends were in intermediate flying and Mari was in beginner and Lauren and Tabitha advanced. Mari frankly did not like flying at all as a class and did poorly in it. Chat was supposed to be in advanced flying, but they wanted her in Intermediate Arithmancy and so she didn't take Muggle Studies and had to be in intermediate flying. 

Mari, Tabitha and Lauren stared out the window in Muggle Studies room. The fog had cleared and it was clear cerulean blue and only a few dots of puffy cloud were to be seen. The glorious October colors dotted the green velveteen like grass. Mari wanted to run out into it and leave boring Muggle Studies behind. 

"Man, I wish we leave this boring class and escape through the window." Lauren voiced Mari's thoughts.

"Yeah, only," Mari jested," What would we have to eat if we ran away?"

"I've got it, we could have fried Marissa" Tabitha said with a laugh

"Yeah, and fillet du Mari, and Mari burgers and a Mari satay." Lauren giggled uncontrollably, Mari joined her as well as Tabitha.

The rest of the class they giggled about "fried Mari", and didn't even notice the scowls they were receiving from their classmates.

Mr. Tim (the very boring dorky Muggle Studies teacher) was droning on about Muggle history and inventions.

"You know, we learned all this crap in Year 6 at my Muggle school." Mari couldn't help saying. This was boring; it was all stuff she knew. 

Through the window she could see a bird flying. She imagined herself flying on her broomstick by that bird.

Birdie, birdie in the sky 

_Don't drop whitewash in my eye. _

Wasn't that the old Muggle rhyme? Mari gazed more, maybe it wouldn't matter how much "whitewash" you had in your eye, you could always be free in the sky. Voldemort was nothing there. 

A/N _Et volia_!!! Chapter three is done and finished. Only about 20 to go!!!! I hope I'll get them all done too. I've been seriously short of time lately!!!! This 8th grade thing sucks!!!!! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!! Anyway, hope ya'll like this chapter and as always, R&R!!!!!!!! I really would like some more reviews, just cause I'm selfish little authoress!!!!! Thank you!!!

**Zarmina: **Thanks so much for reviewing Vash!!!!! I'll put you in there soon, pinky promise!!!! 

**Genevieve**: That is so cool that you're from Minnesotan too!!!! We should start a Minnesotans obsessed with Les Mis club!!!! EHHEHE!!!! E-mail me back soon sil vous plait!!!! 

**Julia: **I have a plot. You know it now!!! So there:: sticks out tongue::!!! Although I changed it a little. HEHE, you'll just have to see if I'm nice enough to e-mail the change all out to you guys!!!

**abby-micheal**: thank you sooooo much!!!!!! I'm glad you think they are like real people, cause they are based off of real people!!!!

The Minnesotan in England

aka Mr. Zelgadis

aka the hopeless 8th grader

aka the homework procrastinator

@@@marzoog@@@


	5. Dealings with Balls

A/N ::sighs:: No reviews. I feel so lonely. I was glad that a lot of people reviewed "Tale as Old as Time'. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

I don't think anyone will read this but my friends, so I have to strongly question the point of this fic. It is just taking up energy that might otherwise be put to uses in the real world, from which I have been in exile lately. So, the fourth installment of this fic…

"Nothing Endures but Change"

Chapter 4

"Dealings with Balls"

By marzoog

The crisp October air was piercing through Mari's robes as she walked up from Herbology. She shivered. The books in her arms were like lead weights and it only made the walk up to the castle on the crisp, cool, clear morning more tiring. Mari longed to be up in her cozy, warm, four-poster, curled up asleep without a care in the world. Bah Humbug, why did flying class have to be right before lunch on Fridays? Mari would have rather had any other class in this cold, windy weather. 

Mari got on her blue flying robes, not like Quidditch robes, just Ravenclaw blue robes that were shorter than ordinary robes, and headed down to the pitch. Mari was thoroughly annoyed with the professors for putting her with a bunch of Hufflepuff girls and boys and Ravenclaw boys, she was the only Ravenclaw girl. And not even Kate was in her flying class! She was just with Pari, Katie, Tanya Aber, Jenny Butcher, as well as some of the second year Hufflepuff girls, including Marie Stylobouche. Mari was glad that Alex Rent and Andrew Gewstone were not in her class, but to her utter disgust Peter Mc Greg was. 

Flying class had become almost unbearable since her "incident" with the tree. No single class since then Peter had ever failed to say "be careful of the trees". Frankly Mari wanted to strangle his egotistical, Scottish, neck. 

Mari wanted to run away, run into the castle and go to sleep, but she knew she couldn't. _Think Irvine_, she told herself, _that some kids are starving, and worried about merely surviving with enough food, and you are worried about having to fly on a broomstick on Friday morning. That is what is so screwed up about human society. _

Mari mounted her broomstick and began to soar. Who cared about the problems with society when one was soaring away on a broom, the fresh piercing their cheeks? Mari couldn't think who would. It was too beautiful out to think of ugliness and problems of the world. Even in the rain…

Then the new teacher, Madame Hooch, conducted the lesson. Mari spent the entire time just staring out onto the lake, not really paying attention. She was plain sick of having to pay attention. 

The lesson droned on. Marie Stylobouche was used as an example and Madame Hooch commented on how perfect Marie's scoring technique was. Mari scowled. This was stupid, and she knew that Tabitha could do better than that. If Marie was perfect, than what was Tabitha, incredibly perfect at scoring goals? Mari laughed inwardly as she saw Marie's smug look after Madame Hooch's comment. 

Mari found herself being forced to pass Quaffles with Jenny Butcher (a nice, to the border line of annoying, rather stupid Hufflepuff in third year) and Jason Dropper (who's slicked back hair and glasses gave him a reputation for being a geek). Mari was fairly good at passing Quaffles, and she rather enjoyed it. Mari could hear Katie Woody's conversation with Pari and Tanya, as they were right behind them.

"Oh, yes, I think that it's awful that we don't have balls." Katie was saying. 

Mari had this annoying habit of breaking into other people's conversations without listening.

"But we do? What do you think we are passing right now?"

The girls laughed, Mari could be daft sometimes.

"No, a ball, a dance." Katie explained

"Oh…sorry" Mari said while a look of realization drew over her face.

Mari couldn't help laughing at the humor in the situation, this is what she got for prying into other people's conversations.

"We really should have a ball!" Mari couldn't help exclaiming

"Yeah, I wish someone would talk to Dumbledore about it." Tanya said

"Someone really should!" Pari looked as though she didn't particularly care, but it would be nice if they did.

"Hmm…" Mari became lost in her thoughts as she flew around for the rest of the class. She would have gotten hit with the Quaffle if Mc Greg hadn't yelled out "Hey Irvine, you're going to fall off your broom. Wake up."

Once Madame Hooch dismissed the class Mari sprinted up to the castle. She went into the Great Hall, still wearing her dirty flying robes, and went up to the head table. She cautiously approached Professor Dumbledore, and asked in her meekest tone (which really wasn't that meek because Mari was in no ways a meek person)

"Sir, do you think that it would benefit all if we had several, or just one, ball this year?"

"Kindly explain Ms. Irvine. I was under the assumption we had plenty of balls for Quidditch."

"Well…well, not those kind of balls" Mari's voice stuttered, she was out of breath partly from the almost run up to the Head Table, partly from embarrassment. She felt all the eyes in the hall on her backside and wished she had at least changed into her uniform.

"Speak up Irvine" McGonagall instructed

"I mean ball as in a dance. I think that it would be pleasant if we students had something to look forward to, like a dance or ball, to keep us from being bored or feeling overworked. Hogwarts has had balls in the past, why couldn't we have one now?"

"I like the idea Ms. Irvine. I think that if you were to bring the idea to our Head Boy and Girl you could possibly carry it through."

Mari bowed. "Thank you Sir"

As she walked back to the Ravenclaw table she noticed the eyes of her fellow students on her. Not only had she just gone up to speak to Professor Dumbledore, but also she was still in her Ravenclaw blue flying robes, which were covered in dirt. She suddenly realized that she might stink like a pig! 

"Mari, what the hell did you do to yourself, and why did you just go up and talk to Dumbledore?" Emily was the first to ask

"Flying class, I decided to ask Dumbledore if we could have a dance or a ball, and he says that I have to talk to the Heads and see if they will do it. Maybe we could get one for Halloween!" 

"That'd be so cool!!" Chat was saying

"I've always wanted a ball." Lauren commented

"What would we dress up as?" Alex pondered

"You could be a little freak, it wouldn't take much makeup." Ellie said teasingly

"HA HA HA! I just think you are so funny Ellie. You know you could be a stand up comedian, or the Queen of Sarcasm. You're just so wonderful at it." Alex shot sarcastically in Ellie's face.

"I know, aren't I?" Ellie looked rather smug hearing this sarcastic insult. Ellie's way of dealing with sarcasm was to ignore, or make fun, of it. 

"No, because _I_ am the Queen of Sarcasm" Mari shot out

"Yeah, well, I'm the dictator of sarcasm. Everyone knows Queens do nothing but cut ribbons. You have no power" said Ellie, coming up with the impressive analogies. 

Mari's face squashed up like a red tomato and she balled her fists. To keep her rage energy in, she bounced up and down. Most times for Mari rage was just a release of energy, not from pure anger. 

"I do to have power in this made up land of sarcasm…." Mari knew she was speaking in what others called "book talk." Mari liked "book talk". 

"No you don't…." Ellie looked as though she wanted to argue, but was stopped by Janice. 

"It would be fun to see Alex in her element if she dressed up as a freak." Said Janice sardonically wistful

"Yes, it would be fun to see Alex as her natural self. Pity she has to put on that makeup of normalness on herself." Chat continued on in the joke

Mari faked a sigh and added "To bad it will never happen, its to scary so they banned it I'm afraid." All the girls laughed as Alex huffed and puffed, like a big bad wolf, wanting to get the three little pigs badly, but not succeeding. 

After lunch Mari approached the Head Boy and Girl and questioned them if they could have a ball.

I'll see. It would be hard at such short notice you know." Head Boy Jonathon Bones admonished 

"I could help organize it, I just need your approval." Mari put forth

"Oh, well then, you have it."

"Thank you." Mari was glad that the Head Boy was a level-headed Gryffindor, rather than a mean and close-minded Slytherin who would reprimand all ideas but his own. 

The Head Girl, a Ravenclaw named Emma Prewet, was harder to win over. Mari constantly badgered her for twenty minutes after classes before she could make her point. Mari was exceptionally good at badgering, so it worked well. Emma finally gave up in despair and said that Mari could have her way. This pleased Mari greatly, as you could imagine, and she went upstairs to gloat.

Once in her dorm, Mari's news dropped like a bombshell, all her friends asking questions at once. 

"What will you do for theme?"

"When will it be?"

"Will you need help?"

"What are we going to wear?"

"I don't know," was the only reply Mari could make. 

"So when are you going to get started?" Emily asked reasonably; Emily was often the reasonable one behind her outward silliness. 

"I think I'll get started tonight, I don't have too much homework. I'll try and get theme ideas and have a poll for what it should be at breakfast tomorrow. Halloween is only three weeks away, I'll have to get working." 

"And, of course, you're going to ask Jason aren't you? Oh Jason…I love you!! Jason!" Anne was enjoying the venomous look on Mari's face as she pretend to imitate her. 

"No, but I think you'll want to invite Alex Rent." 

"Me and Alex? See, we're not meant to be, like you and Jason!" Anne's eyes danced

"UGH!" Mari groaned, and went off to see Professor McGonagall about finding a theme for the ball. 

Mari found the Professor in her office and asked to talk about the Ball idea. 

"Well, Irvine, to be frank I don't know if you can pull it off by yourself. "

"I could have a friend do it with me." Mari suggested

"No, I know all you Ravenclaw girls are responsible enough, but I want some male input." 

"Oh," Mari's face fell, "Who did you have in mind?" 

"Gewstone." 

Mari choked back horror. 

"Oh, I know you don't like him, but I think he's the best for the job." 

"Alright then Professor." Mari's eyebrows were knitted in a serious expression; she was not going to like this…

"I think you need to do this with someone who doesn't already have the extra duty of being a Prefect, and I think if you two pull this off, you would have a shot for a Prefecture in Fifth Year." 

"I see…."

"Yes, and since you two are top of our lists to become the Ravenclaw Prefects tin two years, I would recommend doing this." 

"I see…. so do I have much choice in the matter?" Mari was the kind who could easily see through a grindstone

"No, you do not if you want this ball to be a success and you want to become a Prefect." 

"Alright, I'll tell him." Mari sighed. 

"I know you don't like this Irvine, but just think of the chance to put Prefect on your resume." 

"I know. Thanks Professor, for everything." 

"You're welcome Irvine." 

"Goodbye Professor." Mari started out the door

"Goodbye," McGonagall called out," Oh and Irvine," Mari turned around, "Good luck." 

Mari smiled and walked out the door. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mari trudged to the Common Room. Spending time with Andrew Gewstone!! AH! That was not high on Mari's list of priorities…

She glumly announced the password (Merlin) to the Bird Lady and walked in. All the girls, except Tabitha, were up in the dorms. 

"Why so sad?" Tabitha asked

"Oh, McGonagall will let me have my ball, but only if I organize it with Gewstone." 

"What?" Tabitha sat up straight in her seat

"I know…" Mari's head was hung. This was the ultimate defeat. To have to run HER ball with Gewstone!

"It's better than if you had to do it with Peter." Tabitha offered some optimism 

"True," Mari admitted, "I better tell Gewstone." 

"Why do you call Andrew "Gewstone" and why do you call Peter "Mc Greg"?" 

"Because I always have." 

"You know, I think you really do like Peter."

"Maybe as a friend, but sure as hell nothing more." 

Tabitha brooded over this for a second before Mari continued

"Well, I guess I better get this over with." 

Jason Dropper was seat near by on a couch reading a Stephen King novel. _Procrastinating from his homework no doubt_, thought Mari. 

"Jason, where is Gew-Andrew," Mari stopped herself from calling him Gewstone, _old habits die hard,_ she thought bitterly

"He's probably up in the dorm, doing his Herbology. He had an obsession with Herbology." 

"And I'm the one that's pathetic," Mari mumbled under her breath, "I need to talk to him about the ball thingy. Can you go up and get him for me?" 

"What, are you going to ask him or something?" Jason looked amused

"No," Jason's eyebrows lifted, as if he doubted it, "He has to organize it with me. McGonagall said." Mari was annoyed at all of this. 

"Fine, I'll get him, but I still think you should ask him. That'd be funny." 

"No, I won't. If I'm organizing the damn thing I can't have a date." Mari was getting impatient with Jason. In a few seconds she'd go up there herself and drag Gew-Andrew by the collar to the Common Room and explain. 

Luckily for the Ravenclaws who wanted a peaceful evening to do their homework, Jason went up right then and a few seconds later Andrew Gewstone came down the stairs. 

"What gives Mari?" Gewstone, unlike Mc Greg, usually called her Mari. Mari never knew why. Maybe it was one of his dumb habits, like her calling him Gewstone.

"McGonagall. I told her I got the Heads approval for the ball, and..." Mari was cut off

"What does this have to do with me?" Andrew was impatient

"She says you have to run the ball with me." 

"Why?" This did not look like a pleasing prospect to Andrew

"Two reasons. She says that: one, I can't run it by myself, which I can, and two, she says that if we do a good job we'll probably get to be Prefects in Fifth Year." 

"Oh, I see." He didn't seem to understand, "Do I have any choice in the matter?" 

"McGonagall says not. You know if you don't do this the likelihood of your being a Prefect is almost down to nil." 

"I know, and I've always wanted to be a Prefect…."

"I see, but the question is will you do it?" 

"Why do I have to do it with you though?" 

"Because it was my idea." 

"But you're so irritating." Gewstone was trying to get a rise out of Mari, Mari tried to keep cool. 

"Thank you for the compliment." She shot back, but there was fire in her eyes. When Mari's eyes glittered almost black behind her glasses, it was not a good sign. 

"Well, I'm not going to like it…" Gewstone never screamed back at Mari, that was one of the things that irritated her most about him, he never yelled. He almost did sometimes, but never as loud as Mari. He was always infuriatingly calm. 

"Do you think I like it any more than you do Gewstone?" Mari was almost yelling. Gewstone smiled. He had always like to get a reaction out of Mari Irvine. She was so fun to push around, but still infuriatingly smart. 

The next day, after classes, Mari got her poll out to Professor McGonagall. The results came in and Mari and Andrew found they would have to plan a costume ball. This suited Mari. She already had ideas for what she could be...

Mari got the other girls to help her design the Great Hall. It would be full of evergreen garlands and fairy lights…Mari also made sure Hagrid would put plenty of pumpkins around. Big gigantic ones! Mari went down one day with Andrew and picked them out. Andrew teased that the pumpkins were almost as tall as Mari(this annoyed Mari, or course) and she had hit him in the arm. 

This time proved to be really stressful for Mari. She was overworked, and she knew it. But no matter what she tried to keep a serene smile. McGonagall was worried. Mari was becoming too serious for her liking. She never joked now…and her laughter wasn't half as loud, or real. Everyone, well most everyone, could tell it was fake. 

Finally all the plans came into place. All of the work seemed to have paid off. Gewstone wasn't so sure, but Mari was. Gewstone seemed to be sort of cynical to the whole thing. Mari hated his cynicism. 

The day of the ball Mari was still setting up the punch bowl (charming it so Sirius Black couldn't spike it) when Janice and Chat came whizzing in. 

"Mari-girl!" Janice exclaimed, "You only have an hour before the ball! And with that costume you have it will that more than that to get ready…"

"Come on Mar!" Chat insisted

"I can't go now…" Protested Mari faintly, "I still have to set up so much…Maybe I won't dance, I'll just watch." 

"No," Andrew Gewstone's voice was firm, "You should go." 

"Are you sure you can finish up?" Mari was doubtful

"Of course, I get better grades than you don't I?" 

Mari scowled. 

"Shut up! Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yes, now get out of here." 

"Well fine then…" And before Mari could help with Chat and Janice were dragging her off

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Ravenclaws had decided to go as fairy tale Princesses. Mari was being Cinderella. Tabitha was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Anne was going to be Sleeping Beauty. Lauren was being Maid Marian. Janice was to be Snow White. Chat was Jasmine from Arabian Nights. Alex and Ellie had decided to go as the Little Red Riding Hood and the Granny from Little Red Riding Hood. 

Mari looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her blue dress robes with the short silver sleeves made her look very small and curvy. She had looked like a little wood sprite. Then her hair had been curled and piled on top of her head. Now she looked like a small, vivacious, princess. Just like she was supposed to. Mari Irvine was usually described as "cute looking" but not "pretty, strictly speaking". Now she looked pretty. 

Anne looked like a queen with her long ice blue robes and magic hair extensions. She looked exactly like a blond fairy tale Princess….

Tabitha was a lovely Beauty. Her tan certainly didn't make her look like a perfect fairy tale princess, but she looked very pretty. Her brown robes were just the color to make Tabitha look her best and, with her hair done in a mop of curls, she was certainly a Beauty. 

Lauren's forest green robes with a girdle and green garland for her hair (Mari had nicked it from the Great Hall as they were decorating) made her look like a Medieval Princess. 

Janice's costume was funny. The dress was intentionally short and made her look hilarious. Her hair was done standing out at different parts and her lipstick had been smeared over her lips and around them. 

Chat looked like an Arabian Princess for sure with the peacock colored three-piece robe set. Mari prophesized that she would get some attention from it…

Alex and Ellie were hysterical. Ellie's American accent was indulged to the full. It was very funny to watch their "routine" with Alex acting as Little Red and Ellie as Granny. Ellie pretended to act stupid and did a very good job (not that she was mind you). 

Mari, as always, was the first done and trotted down to the Common Room. 

"My God Mari, you look so pretty!" Where the first words out of Bobbie's mouth

"Oh, thanks." Mari smiled, "Your clown costume is great!" 

Bobbie and Jane were clowns, complete with fake red noses. They were a gas as they showed Mari their "act." 

"Irvine, you have to get down to the hall now…" Andrew trailed off as he saw her He was in a dorky Muggle suit with large, horn rimmed, glasses. Mari assumed he was trying to be a Muggle dork. 

"What? Do I have to go now? I'm Cinderella, I have to wait for my fellow fairy tale Princesses to come and escort me to the ball…" Mari laughed

"No. Get your bum down there." 

"Fine then." Mari sneered, "See ya Jane and Bobbie!" She called out going through the Bird Lady

Andrew followed a few seconds later with Jason Dropper. Jason was dressed as some kind of old man. He wore a suit with a fake beer belly. He talked like an old geezer. Yep….he defiantly fitted the old man part. Mari stooped down to get the glove she dropped and Lauren and the other girls were flying down right behind to meet her. 

"Lauren! How did you get here so fast?" Mari exclaimed

"Well when Bobbie told us that Andrew made you go I insisted that the others hurry up and follow you." Mari laughed and Lauren smiled. 

Lauren really did look like a Maid Marian. Her cheeks were tinted a light brown and looked very creamy. Mari envied her. Lauren was also very skinny. Mari wasn't. But Lauren was so nice and good…Mari sighed. She must look like some puffed up, fat, girl with frizzy hair next to Lauren and the others. She didn't know, though a few of the other students noticed, that she really did look lovely for the first time in a long while. 

Mari chatted with Lauren on the way down to the ball, mostly about Transfiguration. Lauren was always worried about her Transfiguration grade. 

Finally they reached the Great Hall before everyone else and Mari stepped in. It looked like some kind of Halloween heaven, and Mari deiced then and there it had been worth all the work. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As everyone crowded in to the Great Hall Mari began to address them, Andrew behind her. Mari insisted on doing this speech, Andrew always stuttered with he spoke. 

"Good evening everyone! I hope you will all have a wonderful time tonight, and I'm just glad that we had the opportunity to have this ball. So let's all thank the people who made this possible: our Head students, Professor McGonagall and all the other Professors, and my colleague, Andrew Gewstone." Mari cringed at the word "colleague" _Colleague my ass…_.She thought. 

Andrew suddenly spoke up

"And let's all thank this girl right here who organized everything and thought the idea in the first place, Marissa Irvine." Mari blushed at all the people clapping. Or what it what he said? Or was it part of the fact she was always blushing? Mari's cheeks were, at their lightest, light pink. 

Everyone had been assigned seats, this had been Andrew's job not Mari's, and she found herself sitting by Alex, Janice and Chat, as well as Jason (cringe) and….ANDREW? Mari was puzzled. Alex winked. Mari scowled. 

Mari barely avoided catastrophe by barely talking to Gewstone, but when brought up the subject of how the ball was going, she couldn't resist. 

'Well…I think it's going great for all that planning I did." 

"You did? You did? Do you think I did nothing but sit around?" 

"Most of the time. Yes, you did your share of work, but I came up with the original plan." Mari knew she was right. Some people never know when they are right, some people never know when they are wrong; Mari was neither. 

Dumbledore raised his glass to a toast and cut off what would have been a large argument. 

"Let this be a glorious occasion for our school. Let us toast to the small joys we have left in our lives that can never be destroyed, even by the forces of darkness." With that all of the students, with the notable exception of the Slytherins, raised their glasses and toasted. 

When everyone was finished and the plates disappeared soft music began straining into the room. 

"Let's have our Head Boy and Girl, as well as our two organizers, start out the dancing." Mari gulped. She in no way wanted to dance with Andrew Gewstone. 

Mari trotted out on to the dance floor, she noticed Lauren looked whiter than usual, and that Ellie and Alex were winking their eyes out. Once there she turned around to Andrew, and when the dance started she kept as far away as civilly possible. She felt no heart thumping, except that cause by the student body's eyes on her, and she felt absolutely no attraction to Andrew. Despite Ellie, Chat, Janice and Alex's theory she was NOT in love with Andrew Gewstone. He might be a stimulating companion sometimes….but…

Mari turned away from these thoughts as she noticed the look on Jonathon's face as he held, much tighter than Andrew was gripping, Emma Prewet. He was in love with her. Mari felt no surprise. Jonathon was much taller than Emma and had placed his head on top of hers for a moment, then quickly lifting it to give no sign of emotion. Emma's eyes were closed as she leaned again Jonathon. Mari sighed. 

The song ended, and a fast one turned on. Mari broke arm contact with Andrew immediately. She did, however, shake his hand. ****

"Well…we managed not kill each other." She joked before turning away

As the songs progressed Mari started being able to not worry about the punch being spiked (Sirius hadn't been able to break the charm) and start to have fun dancing. She felt she "could have danced all night" and her feet seemed excessively light. So, although she sat out every slow song because she hadn't been asked, she had a great time. 

After the dance Jonathon and Emma agreed to clean, because Mari and Andrew had set up. As she walked away she could they were holding hands. 

Once released from the Great Hall Mari trudged up the stairs, her light slippers pinching. Mari took down her hair, the pins were hurting, and she didn't notice a boy in the shadow of the corridor gaping at her. Mari wouldn't have thought it possible for a guy to gape at her. But this boy was….

She reached the Common Room and flew up the stairs, thanking God her dealings with balls were over. 

A/N Well, that was a long chapter…..Sorry if it was boring. The guy gaping…well that's some one you'll get to meet later…. And no, it's not a Cannon Character. You'll find out soon enough. Okay, so like in ten chapters….or more. It is, for reference, the same person I imagined finding Mari asleep in Chapter 2. 

Hope you all review. I want reviews!

Have a great day!!!

The Minnesotan in England

aka Maren of Minnesota 

aka Cinderella

aka Mr. Zelgadis

aka 

@@@@gnome girl aka marzoog@@@@


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